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Kingfishers loved seeing one another in fancy dress and pyjamas!
Here's a smiley photo followed by some funny ones. 

We have been learning about the properties of 3D shapes including the number of faces, edges and vertices.

As part of our 'Shine' topic, Tamatoa (the famously shiny crab from Moana) has reached out to our class for some help. His dazzling shell is starting to become rusty so he wants to make a coat to protect it when underwater. As Year 2 are currently learning about materials, they seemed the perfect people to ask. 
Kingfishers discussed the properties that his coat will need and decided that the priority to prevent rust is being made from a waterproof material. They then planned what they would need and how they could fairly test a variety of materials. We looked at the materials first and made some predictions about which material we thought would be the most waterproof and which would let lots of water through it. 
The children loved carrying out their experiment as planned. They were consistent with measures such as the amount of water they poured on top and for how long they timed before removing the fabric. 

Along with discussing Remembrance Day and its significance, the children created some beautiful poppies. They looked at the artwork of Georgia O'Keeffe and commented on how her paintings almost look like a photograph. The class used brush strokes from the middle outwards to add depth and texture to their poppy petals and created a 3D element for the black centre. 

Kingfishers thoroughly enjoyed their trip to Burton Art Gallery. They viewed the exhibition 'An English Eye' which is a collection of photographs taken by James Ravilious, and tried out some new sketching and shading techniques. They later attended a clay face workshop. 

​To begin our new 'Shine' topic, Kingfishers learnt about Diwali. They learnt about how it is celebrated and created some of their own Rangoli patterns.  

Swallows predicted what material would work best to make an umbrella from. They then investigated which materials were waterproof and which weren't. 

Swans really enjoyed learning about Diwali. We heard the story of Rama and Sita, made puppets to represent some of the characters and retold the story. We then made diva lamps out of clay and lanterns out of paper to guide them home. In the afternoon we learnt about how Diwali is celebrated, we created rangoli patterns out of paper and chalk.